Seven Dragons Detective Agency- Side Stories
by Mashara125
Summary: A collection one one-shot stories that involve the characters from the SDDA Fairy Tail AU story. Features all Fairy Tail characters in a variety of situations.


**Hello everyone!**

**So here it is, I was going to save this until the story reached 100 followers but I'm going to post it now as kind of a Christmas present for everyone lol. **

**The following chapters are going to all be stand alone one-shot fics that parallel my other story, Seven Dragons Detective Agency. **

**"First Day" is about the first job that Laxus and Natsu take when they start the Agency. I hope you enjoy!**

**I do not own Fairy Tail, it belongs to Hiro Mashima and I thank him for its use in my own creative expressions *bows* **

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><p>Laxus was watching daytime reruns of old cop shows on the couch in his underwear with his toddler son in his lap dressed only in a diaper. Mira told him she didn't understand how they weren't depressing him, having quit his job as a cop not even two weeks before it would have to bring up some bad feelings. She didn't understand that watching the corny shows actually made him feel better because they were so terrible; it reminded him that he had been a good cop which was the reason he had had to leave the FPD before he was fired.<p>

The bigger problem was what he should do now, he didn't have many other skills that he could utilize and if he had to work as a mall cop he would probably go insane with boredom. The pressure to find a new job was growing, they would only have enough savings for maybe a few more months and Mira did what she could but being five months pregnant she wasn't really getting too many more modeling jobs before she would have to go on maternity leave.

He had also just had a visit from his grandfather who, unlike his wife, had been less than tolerant of his sulking around and wallowing in self-pity, which irritated Laxus and put him in an even worse mood. Something in the latest episode had caught his eye though which gave him an inkling of an idea.

He reached for the home phone and dialed in a number. "I have an idea."

"Uh, yeah?" Natsu was confused at his blunt greeting and he sounded like he had his mouth full which wasn't unusual since he was always eating. When Laxus had left the Fiore Police Department he had been surprised when Natsu followed him instead of staying with the others. He had tried to convince the younger man to change his mind and stay but once Natsu decided something he could be incredibly stubborn.

"Private detectives, you know? Like what retired cops do on those crappy cop shows?"

'Uh, yeah?" He still sounded confused, like he didn't know what Laxus was talking about.

"Just think about it," he told him and then hung up the phone.

For the next three days he did research on his idea, what he would need, how much it would cost and what kind of licence it would take. His family was happy that he finally had come out of his stupor and picked a project, they were just concerned about what it was.

"We could do this," he told Natsu excited, trying to show him some of the information he had found. They were at Gramp's place where Natsu had moved back in after quitting his job. "I have everything figured out."

Natsu was eating a sandwich in the kitchen while listening. "But what would we do?" He asked Laxus between bites. "We wouldn't be cops anymore…"

"No, but this is the next best thing, don't you see?" Laxus said excitedly. "We could get information, we could prove that I was right about the FPD and how corrupt it is but we wouldn't have to follow any of that bureaucratic bullshit anymore."

Natsu thought to himself while he chewed and then swallowed the last of his sandwich. Finally he seemed to come to a conclusion and held his hand out. "I'm in."

Laxus took his hand and shook it eagerly. "Let's get down to business."

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><p><strong><em>Two weeks later<em>**

"How did you come up with a name like that?" Makarov asked his grandson peering at the new shiny business card in his hand.

"Mira said that the number seven is good luck or something," Laxus answered absently while bent over the paperwork scattered all across his grandfather's kitchen table. It was easier to work here than at his place until they could afford something more permanent.

"But dragons?" Makarov asked again. "Trying to make yourself sound like a tough guy are you?"

"Shut up old man," Laxus growled not caring if he sounded rude, he didn't want any of Gramp's bantering right now.

"Well that's the thanks I get for finding you your first client," he answered with mock hurt.

"What?" Laxus stopped what he was doing and glanced at him with skeptic curiosity. "Who?"

Instead of answering the old man yelled down to the basement. "Natsu! Come up here will you."

They heard the pink-haired man to come thundering up the stairs. "Yeah?"

"I have a job for you boys," Makarov explained.

Half an hour later they were standing on one of the neighbor's front step as Laxus lightly wrapped on the wooden door.

"You're going to have to hit harder than that if you want her to hear you," Natsu commented. "She's pretty much deaf."

"I know," Laxus countered, irritated. "I'm hoping she won't hear us and we can tell the old man that no one was home." As he said it he hit the wood harder with his knuckles. "Tell me again why we are doing this."

"Because Gramps threatened to kick us out of his house if we didn't," Natsu answered, not seemly bothered by the situation.

The door opened a crack and Mrs. Mackleby's face peered at them. "Oh, it's you," she exclaimed as she opened the door wider. "Makarov said that you would be by later to help me with Humphrey." At the mention of her cat's name her wrinkled eyes filled up with tears. "I just don't know what to do!" She cried.

"Just how many days has the cat been missing Mrs. Mackleby?" Laxus asked, impressed with himself for keeping a straight face.

"Well let's see… I let him out yesterday afternoon just before my stories came on and when I called for him last night to come in he never came to the door. That is not like him at all, he always comes back as soon as it gets dark. When he didn't come back this morning I called all the neighbors but no one has seen him; your grandfather said you might be able to find him for me."

"We will try our best ma'am."

Ten minutes after that they were poking around in the bushes that lined their shared back alley to see if there was any trace of the missing cat.

"This is not what I thought we would be doing when you said private detectives," Natsu complained as he searched a trashcan that had fallen over on one side.

"Believe me, it's not what I want either," Laxus grumbled. "But we're stuck. Let's just find this stupid cat or at least look hard enough so that we can say we tried."

Natsu looked up from his can and tilted his head to one side. "Do you hear that?" He asked Laxus, his voice gone down to a whisper.

"No," the blond man answered back normally. "What?"

"It sounds like a car."

"So? It's an alley, there are cars everywhere."

"Not during the day," Natsu insisted. "Everyone should be at work except the old people like Mrs. Mackleby and Gramps."

It actually made sense and Laxus was impressed, Natsu didn't have the reputation of being the most observant person in the world. Most of his accomplishments in the short time he was on the police force had been attributed to dumb luck and his tenacious attitude, but sometimes he could surprise you.

They crept further down the alley until they saw the front of a large blue van parked in the middle of the road. Laxus and Natsu got close enough to see and then retreated behind a fence that had large enough cracks that they could watch the van and was high enough to hide them from direct view.

Two men dressed in grey jumpsuits came into view, one of them was lugging a metal cage with a cat inside. The second man reached into the cage and pulled the cat out gently, he scratched it behind the ears and then they watched as he removed the cat's collar and threw it into a nearby trash can. He put the cat back in the cage and the two men disappeared behind the van.

"What was that?" Natsu whispered to Laxus.

"I don't know, but we should get a better look." The van's engine started and it rolled towards them down the alley.

They ducked down to make sure they wouldn't be noticed and waited for it to pass before following it back where they came from. They passed Gramp's backyard and then Mrs. Mackleby's, five houses down from that they stopped again. This time they were behind the van and watched as the two men got out and started poking around in a big lilac bush. They ducked into another back yard with a high fence and moved close enough that they could see the Fiore Animal Pound decal in black writing on one of the van's sides.

"The pound wouldn't take off the collars," Natsu whispered to Laxus.

"No, the van must be a fake."

Again they came out of the bush with a large cage that had a cat in it. There was no mistaking it, the large tom cat was definitely Humphrey and when the man tried to reach in to grab his collar he took a swipe at him with his claws out and growled at him menacingly.

"Hey! He almost got me," the man exclaimed, recoiling his hand.

"Never mind, just put it in the van," the other man replied as he opened the back door. They loaded a still spitting and growling Humphrey inside and there were about another dozen animal cages that Laxus could see. As he was walking around to the driver's side door the second man stopped and removed the magnetic Fiore Animal Pound sign off the side of the van and revealed a different logo underneath for Genesis Labs.

"Don't need this anymore," they heard him mumble. The two men got into the van and drove off, Laxus knew it was pointless to follow them any further, taking off the sign meant they were finished their collecting for the day.

"I don't understand," Natsu watched as the van disappeared down the alley.

"Genesis Labs are trapping pets for experiments."

"Isn't animal testing illegal?"

"Yeah, that's why they are stealing them, so they can't be traced back to them."

"Oh," Natsu sounded like he was beginning to understand. "So what are we going to do?"

Laxus weighed their options. They could call the police and report the van, but chances are that it wouldn't come to anything and by the time they go around to investigating it Humphrey would be toast already. Or their option B was to go check things out themselves but Laxus was at a loss of how they were going to do it.

* * *

><p>An hour later they pulled up to the abandoned building that was beside the Genesis Labs compound in the Oak industrial area north of the city. They got out of Laxus' car and watched the giant metal security gate that surrounded the building, it had coils of razor wire around the top and security cameras attached every ten feet or so. It reminded Laxus of a small prison except for the lack of guards but he suspected that there would be added security inside and at night.<p>

"So what are we going to do?" Natsu asked.

Laxus sighed; this was looking like an impossible lost cause. "Unless we can get passed those cameras, and then over the fence and then by the guards and however many scientists are in there then I don't think we can do anything.

"Hmm…" Natsu peered at the fence as if trying to figure it out. Then to Laxus' surprise he took off running towards it in a speedy but low lope.

"What are you doing? Laxus called out, not too loud so they didn't draw attention.

He didn't answer but Laxus watched as he got lower to ground as he got nearer until he was crawling the last few feet. When he got right up to the pole the camera was attached to he shimmied up it like a monkey, the wire didn't seem to affect him at all. Laxus knew it wasn't his police training that made him like that; it was the years spent as a delinquent roaming the streets of Magnolia that had taught Natsu about how to sneak around without being detected. When he reached the top of the pole he gently took the camera and pointed it at a sharp right angle along the left side of the fence line, his created a much easier blind spot. Natsu let go of the pole and vaulted down like the drop was only one foot instead of eight, landing perfectly on his feet. He waved Laxus over and the big man hurried to the fence, careful to stay in the blind spot so that the camera didn't catch him.

"What do you think you are doing?" He scolded.

"What? It's not the first time I've snuck up to a building with security cameras," he didn't even look bothered. "And look, the fence isn't even sunk." He crouched down and pulled on the bottom of the mesh, sure enough the end came out of the ground. "Help me roll it up."

Together they pulled on it enough so that curled up from the ground about a foot; Laxus got on his belly and then slid under, barely making it. Natsu, who was much scrawnier, rolled under and jumped to his feet. "We should hurry before they figure out that camera." He took off again in the direction of the building and Laxus groaned, not again he thought before following. When they got to the building they followed the wall until they found a door, but unfortunately it was locked and only accessible with a key card.

"Damn," Laxus muttered, he didn't know how they were going to get around this one. Just then, as if it was fate, the door opened and a security guard in a grey uniform with a radio attached to his belt walked out. There was a moment of silence as the three of them stared at each other in shock, the security guard snapped out of it first and reached for his radio but Natsu knocked it out of his hand.

"He-" the guard tried to yell but Laxus was faster. He was behind him and had him in a triangle hold before he could cry out for help, he felt the guard quickly lose consciousness and lowered him to the ground gently. He took the security key card that was clipped to his shirt and opened the door.

"Hurry, when that guy wakes up we are in trouble."

They made their way down the hallway but had no idea where they were going, every corridor and door looked the same with no distinguishing marks. It dawned on Laxus that they were going to considerable trouble just to rescue an old neighbour lady's cat and if they were caught they would be charged with trespassing and assault. He couldn't help himself, he started to chuckle at the stupidity of it all.

"What?" Natsu asked, they hit a dead end and turned to the right.

"Nothing." Laxus felt like laughing louder but he didn't want to attract attention with unnecessary loud noises. "I was just thinking about how a month ago we were city cop and now we are breaking into a secure building to get a damn cat. When I thought about going into business this wasn't what I was thinking…"

Natsu just shrugged. "This isn't just about Mrs. Mackleby's cat though. Those guys shouldn't be taking people's pets and using them for experiments. It's like you said before, the cops couldn't do anything about it, but we can."

Laxus was just about to tell him that they might not be able to do anything either when voices drifted down the hallway.

"Shit!" They stopped at the nearest door and pulled it open, thankfully it was unlocked but it was dark inside. "Quick!" Laxus pulled Natsu in with him and shut the door. They didn't dare turn the light on in case you could see it from the hall, but they listened as the voices and footsteps got louder but it was too muffled to make out what they were saying. The people in the hallway passed by their door without stopping and Laxus breathed a sigh of relief. The footsteps eventually died down and Laxus was about to open the door when the lights flickered on. He turned in panic but it was just Natsu standing by the switch, gazing over the room.

"Holy shit," the pink-haired man breathed and Laxus agreed. It was some kind of examination room, not large but big enough for about ten people to stand in comfortably. The shelves on the wall held different kinds of medical equipment, some of it was familiar and others he had no idea how they would work.

"We should get out of here before somebody comes back." Laxus turned back to open the door.

"Wait! There's a map here by the light." An emergency evacuation plan was posted by the switch, it wasn't the full facility but one labelled room caught their eye.

"See?" Natsu pointed. "That would be where they keep the animals, right?" A larger square on the map was labelled kennels; the red X indicated that they were only about six doors down and heading in the right direction.

"Yeah, but it's probably crawling with men in lab coats."

Natsu got a look on his face like he was thinking deeply; it gave Laxus a bad feeling.

"I know!" He darted from the room and down the hall.

"Hey wait," Laxus called but it was too late, Natsu had located a fire alarm in the corridor, broke the glass cover and pulled the lever. An ear-piercing siren started booming all around them and it was chaos. People in lab coats or suits started coming out of rooms and running down halls towards the exit, babbling to each other in concern and trying to figure out what was going on.

No one was paying attention to Laxus and Natsu; they were lost in the crowd even though they were heading in the opposite direction of everyone else. They turned the corner to where the map said it should be and there were two steel hydraulic push doors. Laxus cautiously opened one and peeked in; there was no one in there except for the animals. Cages lined the walls of every size, mostly holding dogs and cats but there were also bunnies, guinea pigs, mice and a few different kinds of birds.

In the corner Laxus spotted the Humphrey's familiar coloring and he went up to the cage, which was labeled with a card reading MF398. The cat didn't look too particular happy to see him, but then he never showed much emotion that Laxus could see beyond distain and indifference.

"Quick Natsu, grab one of those portable cages and bring it here," Laxus called out, trying to carry his voice over the continuing alarm. When he didn't appear Laxus turned to see what was holding him up and then groaned in dismay, Natsu was opening all the cages and letting the animals free, from the birds to the mice. Dogs started to bark and cats started to meow like they could understand his intentions and it added to the deafening noise.

"Natsu! What are you doing?"

"We can't leave them like this," he answered as he continued to open cages. "If setting off the alarm alerts the fire department then they will find out about the illegal animals."

"Ugh." Laxus knew that if the fire department was called then they would probably call the police too, they had to be out of here before that happened or they could kiss their private investigators' licence goodbye. "We don't have time for this."

"I'm almost done." Natsu had moved on to the last row of cages, Humphrey among them. Laxus sighed because he knew that it would be pointless to argue with him and it would waste valuable time. He looked around and saw some portable kennels stacked in the corner, he found one that looked like it would fit the fat cat and brought it over. He opened the cage and instead of acting thankful for being rescued, Humphrey embedded himself in the farthest corner with his hair raised and his tail stiff as a bottle brush.

"Come here fella," Laxus tried to coax the cat out so he could move him into the portable kennel. All he got was a hiss and a claw swipe that narrowly missed his outstretched hand. "Shit! Stupid cat."

"Here." Natsu pushed by him and reached in without fear. He managed to snag Humphrey by the scruff of the neck and stuff him in the kennel without losing much of his hand.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Laxus hefted the heavy kennel and they sprinted for the exit.

"Which way do we go?" Natsu asked beside him.

Laxus looked down the hallway but none of the doors looked familiar to him. It would be asking to get caught to use the front door, by now the fire department and the police would be here and it was just a matter of time before they ran into either one. "Let's see if we can find an emergency exit."

They continued down the long hallway and searched for a way out. Abruptly the fire alarm was silenced and Laxus felt a cold dread enter the pit of his stomach, that meant they had figured out the fire was bogus. They turned a corner and a bright exit sign flashed at them. "Finally," Laxus muttered as he kicked open the door. The bright sunlight blinded them for a second and the heat made Laxus' skin prickle after being in the air-conditioned building for so long. He realized it wasn't the same door they had used to get in, damn, they would have to figure out what direction the car was parked. Before he could relay this to Natsu there was a shout from outside.

"Hey you! What are you doing here?" A security guard appeared in front of them; thankfully it wasn't the one they had knocked out before.

"We can explain…" Laxus started, ready to drop the kennel and fight if he had to.

"Everyone has to move to the front of the building now." He pointed to the right. "Evacuation protocol."

"Yes sir." Laxus pushed Natsu in front of him. "Just go with it," he muttered to the younger man. Unfortunately the security guard followed them so they didn't have a chance to slip away but no one questioned them about who they were or why they were carrying an angry fat cat in a kennel. They joined the large group of bystanders and tried to blend in even though most of them were in white lab coats or business suits.

"Uh oh," Laxus heard Natsu mutter.

"What?" Laxus asked, this couldn't get any worse than it already was.

"Look over to the right, beside the guy with the big nose."

Laxus casually glanced over his right shoulder, trying not to make it obvious or stare. He caught a glimpse of deep red hair and had to do a double take, it could in fact get worse. Erza and Gray were taking statements from a few men in suits that looked like they might the ones in charge. "This is very bad," Laxus muttered, of all the cops in the city that would have to show up it would have to be them.

"We need to get out of here now." The fire truck had arrived but because there was no fire for them to fight the firemen were all standing around waiting to be released and not paying attention to what was going on.

"Quick," Laxus pushed Natsu in front of him lightly. "While they aren't looking get behind the truck."

"Why?" Natsu asked, confused.

"We can wait until no one is looking and then make a run for the gate, if Scarlet or Fullbuster see us then we're screwed." Laxus switched the portable kennel to his other hand; the cat was starting to get heavy. They wove their way through the small crowd, careful not to draw any attention to themselves. A quick dash and they were behind the fire truck, no one was standing on the other side. The front gate was still about ten feet away; it was wide open and the guard booth looked deserted.

"You think that we can just walk through the gate and no one will notice?" Natsu asked in a stage whisper.

"What other option do we have? If we stay here they will see us for sure." Laxus peeked around the other end of the fire truck back in the direction of the crowd. Everyone's attention was still focused elsewhere but any minute now they were going to start rounding them up for questioning. The higher ups were going to have to explain a few things, like why their compound was crawling with domesticated animals. Laxus sent down the kennel carefully and pulled the hood of his sweater up over his head, it wasn't much but it might keep him from getting recognized by his hair or face.

"Are you ready?" He asked Natsu, picking up the kennel again.

"Yep!" The pink haired boy replied happily, like they were about to have a casual foot race to the fence instead of trying to get away before they were spotted.

"One, two, three!" Laxus counted and they took off running for the fence, trying to stay in the peripherals of the fire truck as long as possible. Natsu raced through the gate with Laxus close on his tail when they heard somebody shout out behind them, they turned to the left and kept running towards the building that was hiding their getaway car.

"Here," Laxus shouted at Natsu and threw him the car keys when he turned around. "Keep going, I'll catch up." The portable kennel felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and he knew that he was slowing down.

"Gotcha!" Natsu answered and took off at a speed that made Laxus wonder where the guy found all his energy. Natsu reached the car first and unlocked the automatic doors with a click; he jumped behind the wheel and started the engine. Laxus heard another car motor over the noise and realized that they had almost caught up to them but he didn't dare turn around to check. He wrenched open the passenger's side door and jumped in, pulling the large cage on his lap.

"Go!" He ordered Natsu, who floored the petal in reverse, narrowly missing a white Genesis Lab truck that had caught up to them. He switched gears and they lurched forward, the tires squealing and loose gravel flying everywhere.

"Don't worry, I'll lose them," Natsu responded confidently and Laxus suddenly remembered his reputation in the FPD as the man who had damaged more vehicles than any other rookie in history.

He made a silent prayer to the car gods to show him mercy as they sped along the deserted streets, the white truck was following close behind but losing ground as Natsu wove between buildings. Laxus let out a breath in relief when it looked like they had finally lost them but a flash of blue and red caught his eye in his side mirror. "Cops!" He cried out pointlessly.

Natsu had already seen them and was trying to find somewhere to escape before they got close enough to see their licence plate. "Hold on."

Laxus looked forward and realized what he was intending to do. "Natsu, wait-" but it was too late. Natsu drove straight into the wooden wall of a gate, but instead of crashing they burst right through the obviously rotten and damaged boards. The cop car stopped instead of following them as pieces of wood littered the ground and their windshield, stalling for a moment which was all Natsu needed to make a sharp turn and dot behind another building. He continued to weave but the cop car was nowhere to be found so he turned onto one of the major roads that led back to downtown Fiore, still going well over the speed limit.

"Slow down or people are obviously going to know something is up." Instead of listening Natsu pulled another sharp turn down a service road filled with gas stations and fast food places and then turned into the alley behind it. He hit the brakes and Laxus jerked forward and hit the cage with his chest, almost knocking the wind right out of him. Humphrey growled from inside his cage and swiped a clawed paw at the cage, Laxus felt his pain.

"What the hell was that?" He asked the other man who was looking around the deserted alley and grinning from ear to ear.

"We got away didn't we?" Natsu replied, his voice was filled with glee. "It's been awhile since I got to do something like that!"

Laxus was still silently cursing and thanking god for hearing his prayers when he realized they were in his car.

"Shit!" He cried and he wrenched open the door to check the damage. One of the headlights were busted and little pieces of wood were jammed into various places, the bumper had a bit of an indent but nothing that would draw any attention to it. "Next time you go through a fence use your own damn car!"

* * *

><p>They waited in the alley for about another half hour before they thought it would be safe to head back to Gramps with the cat. Natsu had pulled up off the road but then the smell of the fast food burgers called to him and he ran over and got them lunch. There wasn't much that could put Natsu off food for long, kidnappings and car chases made him build up an even bigger appetite than normal.<p>

When they pulled up to the street Gramps was waiting by the front door. "Well?" He asked as he watched the two men climb out. Laxus held up the cat cage in response and the old man smiled. "I knew you could do it! I told you."

"Yeah, yeah…" Laxus muttered and he walked right across the street lugging the cage under one arm. He knocked on the door once before Mrs. Mackleby threw it open. "You found him!" She cried, putting a hand to her heart like she was in shock. "Is he alright?!"

Laxus opened the top of the cage and let her stick her hand in there in case Humphry was still in a scratching mood. "He's fine ma'am." At least I think so, Laxus added to himself. The cat might be mentally scarred from his ordeal but chances are he would bounce back pretty quickly.

Mrs. Mackleby pulled Humphry out of the cage and held the large tom cat to her chest. The old woman looked like a strong breeze could blow her down the street but she clutched that ball of fur like he weighed nothing more than a kitten. Humphry meowed sullenly, the look on his squished cat face was somewhere between content and annoyed.

"I don't know I could ever repay you," Mrs. Mackleby continued as she hugged her cat.

Before Laxus could open his mouth to talk Makarov spoke up, he hadn't even noticed the old man sneaking up behind him. "Don't worry about it Edna, the boys are always happy to help," he replied smoothly. "We are just happy that Humphrey has come back safe and sound."

"Thank you all so much!" The old lady gushed before backing out of the doorway and slamming the door shut while cooing to her found kitty.

"What the hell Gramps!" Laxus turned his attention to Makarov. "We aren't running a charity reuniting little old ladies with their kitty cats for free! We went through hell to get that damn lump of fur back."

Makarov just shrugged and started walking across the yard, Natsu following him obediently. "It's nice to do something nice for a neighbour every once and awhile, boy. Besides, Edna is on a pensioner's budget."

"Ugh," Laxus sighed as he followed them. "Natsu, you tell him!" Laxus grumbled because he knew he was on the losing side here, it wasn't that he didn't like doing things for people but this wasn't what was in his plan.

The other man just shrugged. "She was really happy to get him back." Just then a blue head popped out of the collar on Natsu's sweater.

"What the hell is that?!" Laxus exclaimed.

The little kitten mewed and Natsu pulled him out of his jacket and held him against his chest. "I pulled this little guy out of one of the cages, he looked scared and alone so I thought I would take him home..." Natsu walked off snuggling with his new pet.

* * *

><p>The next day Laxus was back at Gramp's working on fliers he had printed out for all the mailboxes in the neighbourhood. There was a soft knock at the door which startled him, almost everyone knew that the old man's house was always open and most people just barged right in.<p>

Laxus made it to the door at the same time Natsu thundered up the stairs from the basement. "Who is it?" He asked and Laxus shrugged before pulling open the door.

On the other side was Mrs. Mackleby and she was holding a large cake pan covered in plastic wrap. "Hello boys!" She greeted them in her gravelly voice. "I'm glad that you are both here. I wanted to give you this for helping me find Humphrey yesterday." She held out the pan and Laxus took it. "It's not much, I know but I really am grateful for all your help."

"How is Humphrey?" Natsu asked as she stood at Laxus' shoulder and eyed the cake hungrily.

"Oh he is fine, fit as a fiddle!" Mrs. Mackleby replied. "He slept all night in the arm chair, the poor tired boy."

"Thank you for the cake," Laxus responded. "You didn't have to go to all this trouble." He was starting to feel guilty about his thoughts yesterday on not getting paid for their work.

"It's the least I could do; you boys are always so good to me." Mrs. Mackleby backed away from the door and started walking at a snail's pace back to her house. "I'll see you later and stay out of trouble!"

Laxus shut the door and looked down at the cake in his hands. It wasn't much, but it was probably one of the only ways that she could express her gratitude and a part of him felt touched.

"Yoink!" Natsu snatched the pan out of his hands and bee lined for the kitchen.

"Hey!" Laxus yelled at his back. "At least use a damn plate this time!" Even if they only ended up getting paid in old lady cakes, at least it was a start.


End file.
